Computers - if it's not one problem, it's another

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

Sometimes I wish I was a nerd. You have to be a nerd, or have a friend who is a nerd, or have vast amounts of money to pay a nerd, if you want your computer to perform satisfactory.

My latest frustration with this money pit called a computer comes in the form of a graphics card. I was unable to play certain games that I really wanted to play, and I was told I needed to upgrade my graphics card. So I did.

Last night I took my computer down to the store so a nerd could look it over, and I wasted $100 on a Radeon 9550. The nerd at the store said it was the same card he uses and that it can handle all the new games.

Well guess what, motherfucker...

It can't.

Not only am I still unable to play the games I want to play, but the overall speed on my computer has slowed down.

Sometimes I feel like computers are just not worth all the headaches and all the expense.

[johnnyAKABob]

if youve upgraded your graphics card, other parts of your computer may need upgrading as well to cope with the new graphics card

[Dutch Masta]

Well, doing a little bit of research doesent hurt. If you take your computer in for a video card, they are no doubt going to take advantage of you. A video card is perhaps the simplest part of a computer and it plugs in and out... I built my own computer, and I'm no nerd. Its no more complicated than plugging the yellow/white/red cables into the back of your TV with your DVD player or playstation. But people are intimidated by wires sometimes..

What are your specs and what game are you trying to play?

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

Well, doing a little bit of research doesent hurt. If you take your computer in for a video card, they are no doubt going to take advantage of you. A video card is perhaps the simplest part of a computer and it plugs in and out... I built my own computer, and I'm no nerd. Its no more complicated than plugging the yellow/white/red cables into the back of your TV with your DVD player or playstation. But people are intimidated by wires sometimes..

What are your specs and what game are you trying to play?

If he was going to take advantage of me he could have tried selling me a much more expensive graphics card. Let's be real here, $100 is pretty much at the low end of the graphics card price range.

He DID try to take advantage of me when it came to the installation, but I didn't go for it. He wanted $70 to put it in for me. I said fuck that, and I went home and figured it out mysellf. There was one tiny screw that took me about an hour to get off, but once I got it off I didn't have any difficulty.

I'm trying to play Rome: Total War.

I don't know exactly which specs you need to know. Like I said, I'm not a nerd. But my computer is an HP pavilion 9800. Pentium 4. I have windows xp. And the exact name of the graphics card I bought is:

"Diamond Stealth S120 graphics accelerator card featuring Radeon 9550"

[fasterspider]

Ever since I had my geek install the new mother board, my pc doesn't want to shut down at night and takes a whole 5 minute ordeal to shut her off.
And my power supply keeps blowing up too the last one was under warranty and was covered but the 6 of them before that were not. The last building I lived in had some funny electrical problems and that would cause my power supply to blow up. This house I live in now is close to the 101 freeway and that clogs my pc up with road dirt believe it or not and then she cannot breathe and over heats. When she blew last week, it was a little explosion that scared the shit out of me.
I run 3 Ionic Breeze air cleaners that I have to clean every 5 days and I vacuum my house every day because of the dust & dirt that comes thru the door & windows. But that dust and dirt is what is killing my power supplies.
I have to live here for two more years until my wifes daughter graduates high school and starts college but, then we can move to a less populated area where the dust won't be as big a factor.

[Markass]

I hate to tell you this bud, but $100 for a Radeon 9550 is a complete rip off.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?description=radeon+9550&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property&CMP=KNC-GoogleAdwords&ATT=Radeon+9550+Video+Cards

Those are what you get by searching radeon 9550 at newegg. The most expensive one is half the price, and its memory is 256mb. Take your card back and tell him you will order one off of the internet :thumbsup:

[Zimzum]

Ever since I had my geek install the new mother board, my pc doesn't want to shut down at night and takes a whole 5 minute ordeal to shut her off.
And my power supply keeps blowing up too the last one was under warranty and was covered but the 6 of them before that were not. The last building I lived in had some funny electrical problems and that would cause my power supply to blow up. This house I live in now is close to the 101 freeway and that clogs my pc up with road dirt believe it or not and then she cannot breathe and over heats. When she blew last week, it was a little explosion that scared the shit out of me.
I run 3 Ionic Breeze air cleaners that I have to clean every 5 days and I vacuum my house every day because of the dust & dirt that comes thru the door & windows. But that dust and dirt is what is killing my power supplies.
I have to live here for two more years until my wifes daughter graduates high school and starts college but, then we can move to a less populated area where the dust won't be as big a factor.

Your best bet might be to pick up a can of compressed air and clean the inside of the PC every couple weeks. Mine likes to suck up the dog hairs.

[Zimzum]

To the OP can you post your PC specs? Have you looked for updated video drivers? Sometimes just a new video card isnt enough.

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

I hate to tell you this bud, but $100 for a Radeon 9550 is a complete rip off.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?description=radeon+9550&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property&CMP=KNC-GoogleAdwords&ATT=Radeon+9550+Video+Cards

Those are what you get by searching radeon 9550 at newegg. The most expensive one is half the price, and its memory is 256mb. Take your card back and tell him you will order one off of the internet :thumbsup:

Maybe so, but what you aren't factoring in is the shipping charges that you have to pay when ordering merchandise off the internet. Often times, the shipping costs nearly as much as the thing you are ordering.

But I don't care. I have the card, and if I paid too much for it, oh well. I can live with that. I just want to be able to play my game. That's all I care about right now.

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

To the OP can you post your PC specs? Have you looked for updated video drivers? Sometimes just a new video card isnt enough.

See, this is why I wish I was a nerd.

I don't know what specs you are asking for!

Fuck, I'm a welder and a farmer. Neither one of those jobs requires using a computer, so I've never learned anything about computers.

[Dutch Masta]

You probably didn't update the drivers. Go to ATI.com and get the latest drivers for your card and install them and then try to play the game at a low resolution and low settings.

and shipping a video card would be no more than about $5, plus you wouldnt be paying tax.

[Skink]

Well you bought old technology for playing new games,,,the 9500 series was the card to have maybe a year and a 1/2 ago... see if you can upgrade at this point...

You really have to know what you have and tell us in terms that we can relate... how much memory/"ram" you have,,, what processor/"CPU" and Motherboard... is your computer a store bought brand??? compaq,Dell???

[BobBong]

Pretty soon the games that are released will require PCI-express...

Inwhich you're all looking at new MotherBoards (I've already got my PCI-E mobo)

:)

[Zimzum]

I recommend the book "PC's for dummies". Its a good starter book for those who really know nothing about how a PC works. And if you want a bit more detail on PC's I would say any of the A+ exam books (those will run you about $50+)

[Skink]

I recommend the book "PC's for dummies". Its a good starter book for those who really know nothing about how a PC works. And if you want a bit more detail on PC's I would say any of the A+ exam books (those will run you about $50+)

I recommend hanging out at some geek overclocking sites...

[Lucifuge]

Click start>run> type dxdiag and just copy and paste processor and memory.

[Skink]

Pretty soon the games that are released will require PCI-express...

Inwhich you're all looking at new MotherBoards (I've already got my PCI-E mobo)

:)
if I was a gamer I would have this too...

Google is your friend click here (http://www.google.com/search?q=PCI-express)

[Skink]

Click start>run> type dxdiag and just copy and paste processor and memory.

see you gotta be more like him...

[Zimzum]

I recommend hanging out at some geek overclocking sites...

For someone with little or no knowlage in computers, overclocking is not where to start. OCing would be for advanced users.

[Skink]

For someone with little or no knowlage in computers, overclocking is not where to start. OCing would be for advanced users.



on the contrary,,, I find them filled with nice people that like to help...

[Skink]

on the contrary,,, I find them filled with nice people that like to help...

heres a forum to start with it has all catagories,and posts usually get replies...

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/community/forums/

[Reefer Rogue]

I can't stand when technology doesn't work, or it seems like i'm the only one it doesn't work for. My cpu is fucked up, I can't get on xbox live... I wish things would just work!!! :)

You never have any failure with cannabis smoking. Inhale, exhale et voila, you're ripped. Mission accomplished.

[thcbongman]

If he was going to take advantage of me he could have tried selling me a much more expensive graphics card. Let's be real here, $100 is pretty much at the low end of the graphics card price range.

He DID try to take advantage of me when it came to the installation, but I didn't go for it. He wanted $70 to put it in for me. I said fuck that, and I went home and figured it out mysellf. There was one tiny screw that took me about an hour to get off, but once I got it off I didn't have any difficulty.

I'm trying to play Rome: Total War.

I don't know exactly which specs you need to know. Like I said, I'm not a nerd. But my computer is an HP pavilion 9800. Pentium 4. I have windows xp. And the exact name of the graphics card I bought is:

"Diamond Stealth S120 graphics accelerator card featuring Radeon 9550"

Download the latest drivers, and reinstall catalyst. You made a pretty bad decision on getting that card as I have it myself.

[Dutch Masta]

err.. the 9550 was not the card to own a year and a half ago. The 9800 pro was the card to own like three years ago. and pci-e is not going to be "required" for games any time soon. I would return that card you just bought and order something else off newegg depending on your specs. You could have gotten a 9550 for $36 on newegg plus $5 shipping.

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

I can't stand when technology doesn't work, or it seems like i'm the only one it doesn't work for. My cpu is fucked up, I can't get on xbox live... I wish things would just work!!! :)

You never have any failure with cannabis smoking. Inhale, exhale et voila, you're ripped. Mission accomplished.

No shit.

It's like you practically have to be a computer science major just to play a fuckin video game. I should have bought a Playstation. At least with one of those, when you buy a game, you know the fuckin thing is going to work.

If Bill Gates is so goddamn smart, why can't he figure out a way to simplify this shit?

[Reefer Rogue]

When the world doesn't need wires anymore it will be marvellous.

[johnnyAKABob]

No shit.

It's like you practically have to be a computer science major just to play a fuckin video game. I should have bought a Playstation. At least with one of those, when you buy a game, you know the fuckin thing is going to work.

If Bill Gates is so goddamn smart, why can't he figure out a way to simplify this shit?

he probably knows how to simplify it already. but then he wouldnt make as much money

[SantaClawz]

Wow, that nerd just ripped you a new one. I got my 9600 Pro like 5 or 6 Years ago and it wasnt even that great for the time. On friday I finally upgraded to a Radeon x1600 Pro 512mb. Its pretty nice and it was on sale for 100 bucks. So if I was you i'd go back to wherever you got that card and shove it up thier ass.

[The Figment]

No shit.

It's like you practically have to be a computer science major just to play a fuckin video game. I should have bought a Playstation. At least with one of those, when you buy a game, you know the fuckin thing is going to work.

If Bill Gates is so goddamn smart, why can't he figure out a way to simplify this shit?

I drive a 733 P3,128 megs Rambus,8 gig scuzi harddrive,16 meg Matrox vid card...now lets talk about slower than maple syrup left outside overnite in January!!
I got SOOOO frustrated whtching my puter wimper under Winblows XP that I fianally kicked Mr Gates to the curb,trashed Winblows and loaded Elive (Debian Based) Lunix.(I quit gaming a few years back)
My puter is MUCH happier,MUCH MORE STABLE (23 days uptime without a burp) and I dont have Winblows throwin popups or balloons in my face every 5 min!! I am F.AT. Free!!!
If you are a welder,framer than one can assume that you can tune a Chevy Small Block...If you can tune yer truck then building your own pc is a peice of cake....Its harder to get Winblows to run than it is to assemble a pc,

[SantaClawz]

No shit.

It's like you practically have to be a computer science major just to play a fuckin video game. I should have bought a Playstation. At least with one of those, when you buy a game, you know the fuckin thing is going to work.

If Bill Gates is so goddamn smart, why can't he figure out a way to simplify this shit?

I drive a 733 P3,128 megs Rambus,8 gig scuzi harddrive,16 meg Matrox vid card...now lets talk about slower than maple syrup left outside overnite in January!!
I got SOOOO frustrated whtching my puter wimper under Winblows XP that I fianally kicked Mr Gates to the curb,trashed Winblows and loaded Elive (Debian Based) Lunix.(I quit gaming a few years back)
My puter is MUCH happier,MUCH MORE STABLE (23 days uptime without a burp) and I dont have Winblows throwin popups or balloons in my face every 5 min!! I am F.AT. Free!!!
If you are a welder,framer than one can assume that you can tune a Chevy Small Block...If you can tune yer truck then building your own pc is a peice of cake....Its harder to get Winblows to run than it is to assemble a pc,

Whats Lunix? And its not Bill Gates fault that you didnt read the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Windows XP. Come on, you might as well gut that computer out and start growing marijuana in the case.

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

I drive a 733 P3,128 megs Rambus,8 gig scuzi harddrive,16 meg Matrox vid card

I don't even know what the fuck you just said.

That's the problem. Computer people act as though everyone should know as much as they do about computers. As if we all have spent the same amount of time dicking around with computers.

Look, I've probably spent about the same amount of time learning about computers as you have spent learning about welding. I wouldn't be dumb enough to put a welder in your hands and expect you to produce a good weld without any instruction. Why would anyone expect me to be able to fix my computer without any instruction?

The first thing computer nerds have to realize is that we are all educated, but in different fields. And we all have to depend on each other's different expertise in order for this world of ours to function.

[CYRAX]

if youve upgraded your graphics card, other parts of your computer may need upgrading as well to cope with the new graphics card

That's exactly the problem mate...

[SantaClawz]

I don't even know what the fuck you just said.

That's the problem. Computer people act as though everyone should know as much as they do about computers. As if we all have spent the same amount of time dicking around with computers.

Look, I've probably spent about the same amount of time learning about computers as you have spent learning about welding. I wouldn't be dumb enough to put a welder in your hands and expect you to produce a good weld without any instruction. Why would anyone expect me to be able to fix my computer without any instruction?

The first thing computer nerds have to realize is that we are all educated, but in different fields. And we all have to depend on each other's different expertise in order for this world of ours to function.

Is your computer broken?

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

Is your computer broken?

It's not performing the way I would like it to perform. And I don't how to make it perform better.

So yes, from my point of view, it is broken.

[Dutch Masta]

I don't even know what the fuck you just said.

That's the problem. Computer people act as though everyone should know as much as they do about computers. As if we all have spent the same amount of time dicking around with computers.

Look, I've probably spent about the same amount of time learning about computers as you have spent learning about welding. I wouldn't be dumb enough to put a welder in your hands and expect you to produce a good weld without any instruction. Why would anyone expect me to be able to fix my computer without any instruction?

The first thing computer nerds have to realize is that we are all educated, but in different fields. And we all have to depend on each other's different expertise in order for this world of ours to function.

I dont know where you grew up, but mostly everyone around here knows how to use a computer and has general knowledge when it comes to them.. there is a HUGE difference between that and a "computer nerd".. so you just sound completely computer illiterate, which there is nothing wrong with but you dont have to go around thinking that it takes a "computer nerd" to install a video card or play a video game. If you took an hour to unscrew the single phillips head screw that holds the video card to the computer case, I really dont even know what to say.. like I said, return the card and order a new one. Think of that card performing as schwag in weed terms at twice the cost of dank ;)

[Professor Dan K.]

wow, so yea its really not that hard to become familiar with how a computer works. it doesnt take a super genius to know whats inside your comp. thats the problem with people today (no offense but a lot are like this), they get something and expect it to work without even knowing how, why or what the hell is going on in the device.. same can be said for cars, phones, anything complex...

for instance i dont know shit about cameras.. im taking a photography class and the first few weeks were very frustrating beacuse i couldnt figure out my aperture and shutter speeds and all that. but i learned, i became familiar with how it works, it took time and i still kinda suck but its alot easier to understand now..

all you gotta do man is just sit down sometime and do some research on whats inside your comp. it does seem like a lot to handle but youll get familiar with it :thumbsup:

[Lucifuge]

The only way we can help you is if you give us your computer's specs. Click Start>run> type "dxdiag" and paste your processor/memory. Also, take off the cover to your pc and tell me how many watts your power supply (it's in the top left) outputs.

[Captin]

To me it doesn't seem like your computer is broken, it seems like your video card just plain sucks. I got a 9800 about 5 years ago, i can still run all the new games with it, but trying to play new games with a 6 year old video card just won't work.

[epicsoundz69]

my computer is a gaming computer, ordered top of the line and all that good stuff, then something fried the video card and we ordered another really good card, a card made for gaming. It cost us about 250 dollars and even with upgraded memory, it sometimes struggles to play some of the new games.
At 1600x1200 or whatever it was, F.E.A.R. was unplayable. But then again, thats at 1600x1200(or whatever it was) so nevermind

sorry im not helping much, but im blazed so... yeah

you could try copying that exact name of the card and doing a google search on it for reviews or something

[epicsoundz69]

try reading this board


http://groups.google.com/group/alt.games.the-sims/browse_thread/thread/ff4952340377d745/fe1067aa5f42dd12?lnk=st&q=Diamond+Stealth+S120+graphics+accelerator+card+f eaturing+Radeon+9550&rnum=1&hl=en#fe1067aa5f42dd12